Any Telescope Hobbyist

[GolfVenture]

I've never owned a telescope, but would like to really soon so I can view the 1st of 4 Blood Red Moon on 15th April, that is if the sky is clear. NASA says a Tetrad is about to occur, 4 back to back Blood Red Moons on 15 April, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015... The Utube is much better if you search for "A Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses"... Rather than this Utube [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gzgSuJM5O8]ScienceCasts: A Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses - YouTube[/ame]

The Last one is a Super Moon seen over the Middle East area.

 

This one is in Craigs list in my area http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/fod/4394135605.html

and was wondering if some one could give me their opinion.

Edited March 29, 2014 by Golf&Venture

[etcswjoe]

I might have to break out my telescope and get some pics.

 

That one looks fairly similar to mine and here are a couple pics I took a few years back. The telescope itself runs around 300 but he does have a few extras that he bought separately.

[Mike G in SC]

From the video, sounds like it would be more fun to be on the moon during the eclipse to see the ring of fire around the earth. Even if we start driving today,,,,,,, nah.

 

April 15 is a Tuesday (work day),, may see the tail end of it in the morning.

[LilBeaver]

If all you want to do is look at the moon (opposed to galaxies, nebulae, etc etc), I would say save your money and get out a pair of binoculars or if you have a spotting scope -- go buy a tripod (if you don't have one) and call it good at that.

 

The optics on any decent scope, if maintained, will last a long time. The real problem is that it does not take much to jack up a good lens (objective) or mirror by someone that does not know what they are doing. If I were closer, I would offer to go with you to inspect the scope before your purchase (if you really wanted to purchase).

 

I am not really sure how much additional information you want here, but I am happy to provide more info if you want.

 

I have attached a few pictures of one of the toys I have access to as well as some images I have taken with it.

One is a 20" planewave scope (Schmidt-Cassegrain).

[Peder_y2k]

I'm with LilBeaver on getting a good binocular. The larger the objective lens, the better, something over 50mm. Magnification around 20-30. These binocs will also be good for other activities, like birdwatching, varmint hunting, spying on the neighbors 3 miles away, etc. Might also consider a spotting scope.

-Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

[Mike G in SC]

My departed sister-in-law ran the Nature Museum in Charlotte and was a primary force behind Discovery Place Imax/Planetarium. Was actually an astronomer by trade.

When I lived on a lake, she brought me a "Red Ball" telescope (Edmunds Astroscan). It's really a starter for about $300.

 

It was a blast out there. Daytime for boaters and night time for the clear sky we had.

And,,, on clear days, there were bikini's at one mile.

(Oh, and everything was upside down,,, had to get used to that.)

 

Like I say,, just for fun: http://www.scientificsonline.com/astroscan-plus-telescope.html

[GolfVenture]

spotting scope --

 

 

I have a Spotting Scope, 25 - 75 x 75 mm.

 

Thank you for the suggestion.

[LilBeaver]

spotting scope --

 

 

I have a Spotting Scope, 25 - 75 x 75 mm.

 

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

Well there you go!

I think you will be surprised at what you can see with just that little bit (relative to a high powered telescope) of magnification.

If you want a list of objects you can see, check this out http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

 

If you look carefully, there is a list of objects you can see with the naked eye, a weak pair of binoculars (e.g. spotting scope) and then some of the deeper objects for which you need better optics.

When I teach the class on stellar observing, part of the lab out at our observatory requires that students print a sky map off, come out and find a bunch of objects. It is always good fun and this is highly informative.

 

[RandyR]

The full eclipse will start at about 3am edt tonight.

[Pegasus1300]

"I think you will be surprised at what you can see with just that little bit (relative to a high powered telescope) of magnification.

If you want a list of objects you can see, check this out http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html"

 

Thanks for the tip on the sky map. I printed one off and will be using it tonight.

[Flyinfool]

No eclipse here in Wisconsin, it is snowing.....:snow2:

 

Besides, I need my beauty sleep, LOTS of it......

[Huggy]

Flyinfool I was told by a little bird that you would need at least ten years of solid sleep to help you AND that was probably not going to be long enough!!

[RandyR]

It rained here all night

[etcswjoe]

It rained here all night

 

 

Sam4e here could not see it

[Pegasus1300]

Sky was crystal clear here in UT and thanks to the Sky Map link posted by Lil Beaver I had a great time not only watching the eclipse but the rest of the sky as well. Saw the eclipse from about half way thru to full and the back out just enough to get a flash of white on the top of the Moon as the shadow cleared.

[Bert2006]

Got to see most of it here as I could not sleep